Official logo, new monster, Archer hero, Origins dungeon sneak peek and more!
HELLO fellow Crusaders of Avalon!!! :) Rodger here, and I hope everyone is doing great this evening/day. Wait...just wait....it's only 3 weeks to XMAS??!! I mean really? I feel like time is just flying by nowadays. I hope everyone out there had a great thanksgiving with your family and friends and had a terrific feast!
LOL, maybe Dungeon Crusade is keeping me busy? Maybe just a little, but I truly love working on this game with you guys, and sharing all of this stuff with you.
As you know last weekend was a lite update, but sharing that video of the massive content update with you was really fun I think. I did accomplish everything i set out to do to get the house ready for the holidays, so all is happy here. But right after that, it was a very productive week for Dungeon Crusade....I mean like Uber productive guys. But it's great to be back with you guys and show you some very cool stuff this weekend.
There is so much in this update, I really don't know where to start. Well...let's start with the official Dungeon Crusade logo that myself and Jesse finally got finalized today.
I put a small reveal video together is you guys would like to check that. I came out really good. So shoot over here if you want, watch it, and head back here. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CaDghF5M_N8
And here is the new logo....
So this logo will be on everything Dungeon Crusade. Especially the cover art of the game box. Jesse Hansen of Cornerstone Creative Studios really assisted me in recreating what I had envisioned for this logo. He truly is a super and talented artist
I really wanted to design the logo on my own, ya'know, make it personal. It took a LONG time to think of a great looking logo. Many different ideas, concepts, revisions, etc.
LOL, this my be TMI, but I envisioned the final logo while showering and washing my hair...I know, kinda weird..but the GOD's honest truth. So I put together this logo I had thought of, and forwarded it to Jesse for him to professionally recreate, and put his touch on it. Myself and Jesse worked together the last few days on making this finally come together.
Jesse did an OUTSTANDING job of doing what I had envisioned for this logo. I wanted this to look very retro, and pay homage to some of the games from back in the day that influenced me in making Dungeon Crusade. I hope you guys like this! :)
I also manage the facebook Dungeon Crusade site, and a new profile pic was in order for that page So I started putting some ideas I had in mind together and got working on it in my program, and came up with this. A fairly epic profile pic to represent Dungeon Crusade with I believe. I thought you guys might want to see it...
NEW MONSTER:
So I have a new monster for you guys. A level 3 champion monster, "Blackhand Defiler". This is the elite version you are going to see. For those of you who don't know, I created an evil faction in Dungeon Crusade called "The Blackhand Army". Their an evil, malevolent faction trying to take control of Avalon. At one time, they "were" human, but they have sacrificed their souls to become part of this demonic army led by the guardian Lord Blackhand. So throughout the game, your heroes will run into different members of the Blackhand Army.
As always, here is the legend for the warfare traits....
And do remember, besides the elite champions there is normal versions for champion monsters that have their origins stories on it, instead of a special ability. Here is the full poster pic of the Blackhand Defiler....
And Jesse had sent me the level 2 champion monster Blackhand Blademaster, but I didn't have enough time to get it into the update. Next week for sure. ;)
On the subject of monsters, I submitted to Cornerstone Creative Studios the design docs for the level 4 champion monsters. So we will see them starting to make an appearance. The level 4's consist of Crypt Fiend, Death Knight, Queen of the Blackhand, Beast of the Faith, Ogre Chieftain, Enraged Troll and Ancient Horror. So 7 normal versions, 7 elites.
HEROES SPECIAL ABILITY CARDS:
Before we get into these, I have to give a huge shout to Kez and Tom. Kez did the card design for us, while Tom did the awesome icons upon the cards. A truly outstanding job by these guys! :)
I managed to get all of the first 6 heroes special abilities done this week, and these really got honed to perfection. Let me show you a table of all the cards arranged for you to take a look at. Just a note here. I uploaded the pic of the full table, but KS shrinks it way down so you couldn't make it out. So I just went into my program and divided it up so you can now see everything more up close...
I truly perfected and honed these special abilities for each hero. For example, if a hero doesn't have a certain weapon equipped, they can't use the special ability, and it makes sense. Example....
The Archer hero has a very cool special ability called "Pinning Shot." This special ability is dependent on her having a ranged warfare weapon. If she doesn't have a bow, (ranged warfare weapon), she can't use that ability.
Another example is the Wizard. Now a wizard uses a staff usually to cast spells right? Same in Dungeon Crusade. A Wizard without a staff can't cast some special abilities.
I just refuse to just "throw" a special ability in the game. I really wanted to take my time to develop fun and tactical special abilities for us to use while playing Dungeon Crusade. :)
So we haven't done this in a while. Let's look at one of the Wizard's special abilities, "Magic Missile", and see how it may play out in the dungeon....
Now notice right there at the bottom. The wizard must have a arcane warfare weapon to use Magic Missile. It makes sense right? Well, in fantasy gaming at least. ;)
So let's look at the dungeon and see what the situation is....
So the Wizard is a few spaces away from being in line of sight of Banevik, one of the Guardians. Notice the 2 minions adjacent to Banevik. A few heroes are around the Wizard and are planning a huge attack on Banevik and the 2 minions. It's time for the Wizard to make his move....
The Wizard moves into place and unloads a salvo of Magic Missiles at Banevik! Take a look at the Magic Missile card. The Wizard activated this card by paying 4 essence. But now that he has cast Magic Missile, it's time to see the outcome of what the Magic Missiles did in damage.
According to the card, the Wizard player must roll a D8 to see the outcome. The D8 is rolled, and 8 is rolled! He has done 2 damage to Banevik, and from how the card reads, any monster adjacent to the target take 1 damage! The Wizard has softened up the monster now for an all out attack with his fellow heroes! :)
I hope you guys liked that little demo of a special ability. We'll get more into the special abilities in the next few updates, as there is much more I'd like to share with you.
BLESSING CARDS:
Another awesome thing is the blessing cards are coming together. David Shearer sent me the Blessing card backing, and it looks pretty stellar guys...take a look at the backing, then we'll discuss it a bit...
OK, I'll say it...What a totally rad card! Awesome work on David Shearer's part. That thing is awesome. So David and me were discussing the priest on the card casting the blessing. It's kind of sketchy right? Blessings are 200 gold each, and can be found at the temple in the village on celebration day.
Now there are 2 outcomes to Blessings. Either you're going to reveal a blessing. or you're not going to get one. LOL, and don't worry...I wrote some very sad, melancholy lines for these cards that have dark clouds on them, if you did not receive a blessing. ;)
However, if you did receive a Blessing, the card will reveal a beautiful angel that will aid you in some way on your dark journey. Some of these angels are pretty powerful to say the least...but you got to be lucky enough to get one. :)
And you may ONLY reveal your Blessing upon returning to the dungeon. You must leave your Blessing card face down until that time.
And the incredible artist Tom is right now finishing up the angels of Dungeon Crusade. When we spoke about them, he was really excited to do these, and looking forward to them. He sent some rough sketches of the angels so far, and they. are. AWESOME! I hope to have these within the next week, hopefully? But I would like to show you them all at once. So we have that to look forward to.
NEW HERO ART:
So Jesse, Joseph and Freddy from Cornerstone Creative Studios got the Archer hero done for us this week. This is the one I have been telling you is the new version. Remember the other archer girl? Well here is the brand new Archer hero for Dungeon Crusade....awesome work guys as usual! :)
I'm really happy how she came out. And notice how she is dressed...this is the kind of stuff I'd like the female heroes to look like in Dungeon Crusade. Classy, deadly and plain out awesome.
While we're at it, let's take a look at her level 1 hero card....
Some fonts will be changing on these hero cards. Notice the name plate. There will be brighter fonts there so it's very clear to read.
A SNEAK PEEK AT THE FINAL ORIGINS DUNGEON BOARD:
So Shaun has sent me a VERY close to final version of the Origins dungeon board. What I have to do this coming week is add in the patrol routes and spawn points to the dungeon. Well, the spawn points are done, so I'm on the patrol routes right now. Plus I have to add in a few things in regards to the minions for movement.
But just WOW! Shaun truly out did himself with this recreating of the Origins board. The dungeon looks, and reads so much better. What I'm shooting for is to film a "world debut" trailer towards the end of the week, and include it in next weeks update. I'm going to try to get the doors done also. So what you see, is what you will be getting in your game! By the way, here is the doors Shaun created for the dungeons. Of course these are going to be the size of the ones you saw in my prototype.
So let me explain the pic you are going to see. I have not yet printed the final origins dungeon board yet, because I'm still working on it. But I'm creating this, "digital table" so to speak. LOL, some of you guys have seen my props, so I'm always coming up with something kinda different to build. But what I'm doing is I'm creating a gaming table, but in the center, is going to have a big LCD display. The reason I'm doing this is to playtest dungeon boards, without printing them. LOL, yes..I'm very frugal. ;)
So this way, I can hook up a laptop to it, take the dungeon board I'm working on from my workstation PC, throw it on a flash drive, put it into the laptop then display it on the LCD and play Dungeon Crusade on it. I've done this before, and it works really well, and saves on printing the board out until it's fully done. Printing huge dungeon boards can add up fast.
So take a look at this sneak peek of the Origins board Shaun did on a digital display. It really does look kind of cool, and works perfectly. :)
So I hope you like the look of this. I truly does look incredible. Oh, another thing i can share with you is the new spawn points Shaun created. If you remember, this was my prototype one from the game...
Now here is the new spawn point for the dungeon Shaun created. LOL...yes, It is freaking awesome....he kept the skulls!!!!! :) YES!!!!! LOL
And as always, try to tune in to Shaun's weekly stream on Twitch Friday's at 4P.M. EST. You can sit in on his Dungeon Crusade creation session, and watch as he creates the loot for Dungeon Crusade. Here is the link to get there >>> https://www.twitch.tv/shmaba
IN CLOSING:
So you know what I will be doing this week, getting the patrol routes implemented on the Origins board, and finalizing all of that for the big debut next weekend. Plus some other things for the game such as card updates.
Kez is still on the treasure chest cards, and Shaun is on the loot and a few other things.
That's what i was going to mention to you guys. We are going to be starting work on the Castle Blackwood dungeon board next, and I'm really amped up for this. Me and Shaun have alot of great ideas we would like to do for this dungeon.
What I came up with is, (on my rough sketch), there will be an outdoor area surrounding the castle. There will be a few parts that are a forest, a graveyard with underground crypts, and just maybe a secret passage into the castle. ;) The center of the board will be the inside of the castle. TONS of ideas I have as well as Shaun.
David Shearer of course is working on the card backings still. He is on the mining and loot card backings presently. And I did mention Tom is working on the angels for the Blessing deck.
The guys at Cornerstone Creative Studios are working away on more monsters for us, so I would expect a good batch next update as well.
Wowsa.....I think this update should have been called a "MEGA ULTRA HYPER COMBO" update. But, I love sharing all of this with you guys. I'll be in here with you guys tomorrow to chat about anything in the update you would like to discuss.
I hope you enjoyed this update, and it excites you more for the game! :) Well, the clock on the wall reads 4:09 a.m.,,,,maybe I should go to bed now huh? LOL!
Have a great day guys, talk to you soon...Rodger :)
A huge HELLO to everyone out here! :) Rodger here and I hope everyone is doing great and enjoying their weekend in whatever you may be doing.
I have been really busy on the design/layout for various cards this past week as you will see in this update. So forgive me for not being in the comment section for the few past days. But when i get on the game, I'm in the "DC Zone". ;)
I always look forward to these weekend updates with you guys, and show you what I have been up to as well as the rest of the team on Dungeon Crusade. So let's get on with this!
VILLAGERS GIFTS ON CELEBRATION DAY:
So when your heroes emerge from the dungeon after clearing a quest table, it's time to head to the village for celebration day. The villagers will give the heroes various gifts to show their appreciation in the form of a simple "Thank you!"...(I know...not that snazzy after you just saved their village right?). Of they could be feeling very generous and give the heroes gold or valuable loot.
A couple of unique things they can give the heroes is Harvest Bread and Elderberry Juice. Let's take a look at this pic and see what these tokens will look like....
Take Harvest Bread and Elderberry Juice back into the dungeon and use it to restore a heroes health and essence.
So if the villagers give the heroes one of these gifts, each hero will take the appropriate token. For example if the villagers gave the heroes Elderberry Juice, each hero would take a Elderberry Juice token and put it in their backpack.
When they return to the dungeon, they can consume it in their time of need to regain the health and essence shown on the token! Harvest Bread and Elderberry Juice tokens can be shared between heroes of course. :)
THE AFFLICTIONS:
Besides taking damage from monster and creature attacks, encounter events and traps, the heroes must worry about the different afflictions that they can contract. Let's take a look at the 12 different types of afflictions that a hero can be stricken with, then discuss it a bit...
Elixir potions will purge all afflictions from a heroes body!
The final icons that will be upon the affliction cards are being completed in the next week, so I will be sharing those with you guys upon completion. Also I will be adding in the small descriptions on the cards what will occur if a hero is stricken with an affliction.
Don't worry! There will be only a few lines, and these are super easy to understand and process. We will see an affliction later in this update.
Afflictions can be contracted from monsters, creatures, certain encounters and traps in the dungeon. There are 2 different types for each class, and come in the form of 1st degree and 2nd degree afflictions.
Afflictions can have detrimental effects on a hero. They can affect their body, vision, mind, thought process or movement. The only way a hero can purge an affliction from their body is to consume an elixir potion. Elixir potions can be purchased from the bazaar in the middle of the village for a cost of 200 gold. Highly recommended to have a few on hand crusaders! ;)
Let's take a look at an affliction, and at the same time check out a possible final design of the monster card layout I put together....
OK...let's hit the brakes for a second before we discuss the affliction. Let's talk about this monster card design for a few.
Simply put, I REALLY like this design, and I took into account what you guys had to say, and designed it so everything that was a concern is no more. I greatly THANK YOU guys for bringing up that when I posted that other monster card quite a few updates ago.
So this design above. As I said, I really like this. Everything on the card is laid out really well I believe. One of the big concerns before was the warfare icons. If you remember, I was using the actual warfare icons and placing the warfare values right on top. It was messy, hard to read and basically YUCK!
I went back to my original design from the prototype game. I had an artist create a skull, then added the 6 warfare colors to them and a shadowing effect placed on top of the skulls. The shadowing effect is very subtle, but it really added a nice look to them. I then simply placed the warfare values on the top part of the skull. The end result totally fits the Dungeon Crusade vibe, reads very well and looks pretty classy I believe.
In the info box below the warfare icons, I reworked that as well. All values for the various icons reside right beside them, and now read perfectly clear. Before the values were on top of the icons and was very messy and hard to read.
If you remember on the other monster card, I placed a dungeon background in back of the monster pictured. And from the heart, I still like that design. However on the new layout I placed a background with the color that represents the level of the monster the heroes are combating, then placed the monster on that background. It certainly makes the monster art POP! really nicely I think.
There were a few other small things I worked on, but I truly feel this layout works incredibly well for the game. It looks quite striking, it's very concise and just has a great unique vibe to it. I hope you guys like it, and as always let's chat it up a bit! :)
So now...onto the affliction and we will be using our new Skeletal Archer for this demo. So let's start of with a few basics. We can tell by the silver frame of the card, we are dealing with a champion monster. Also, if you notice at the top left corner there is a gold star signifying we have encountered an elite version of this champion monster! Normal champion monsters are denoted by a silver star.
Elite champion monsters always have a nasty special ability. Case in point, our Skeletal Archer has a special ability called "Serrated Arrow". Before any combat will take place, our heroes must get through this special ability of the Skeletal Archer.
Side not, any time you see "Before Combat", this ONLY happens ONE TIME before combat begins.
We see each hero must test agility 18. Let's take a look at our Knight heroes card and consult his agility.
We see our Knight has an agility of 2. What the knight hero must do is roll the D20, and add his agility to the result. He must meet or exceed 18 in order to dodge the Serrated Arrow!
The Knight rolls, and the result is 14! OUCH! Even adding 2 we have a total of 16. Our knight must take 2 damage and now must test his physical resistance. Consulting the Skeletal Archers monster card, we see he needs a 17 or higher to withstand a physical affliction. Let's look at his card again....
Notice the physical warfare icon is circled. This value has a few meanings. For one, you may add this to any physical warfare roll during combat. The other meaning is for testing physical resistance. So we must now roll the D20 again, and we may add that +4 to the roll since this is a physical resistance check. Let's hope for the best!
The D20 is rolled, and the result is a 9! Even adding the +4 gives us a result of only 13. Not enough to beat the 17 on the Skeletal Archers monster card.
Unfortunately our knight hero has suffered a 1st degree physical affliction. Let's take a look at the affliction card he must take...
We can tell this is a 1st degree affliction by the "I" in the top right corner in the colored diamond. The card reads very clear and concise, (which I truly strive for) on how this affliction is processed.
And how would out hero cure himself from an affliction?.....I think I heard someone say it ;)...Consume an elixir potion! Elixir potions will cure ALL afflictions a hero is plagued with.
We will be talking much more about afflictions in the coming months, but for now I hope you enjoyed learning more about Dungeon Crusade. :)
A COOL LOOK AT A MONSTER BEFORE THE COLORING PROCESS:
So Jesse from Cornerstone Creative Studios provided me with a inked version on one of the monsters in Dungeon Crusade, a Blackhand Defiler. This is a level 3 champion monster, and of course part of the Blackhand Army led by a guardian monster, Lord Blackhand.
But I thought you guys would like to take a look at a few behind the scenes. The penciling phase was done by the incredible Joseph Arnold, and the inking process done by Jesse himself. Without further ado...the Blackhand Defiler champion monster!
I thought this would be cool to show you guys, then after Freddy colors it I'll put it into an update to see the final result. There is alot of monsters that are inked and ready to be colored, so we all have much to look forward to.
And I have said this before, I think you will be astounded at the amount of monsters in Dungeon Crusade. Minions, champions and the boss like guardians. Just prepare thyself to be overwhelmed with MONSTERS!
But seriously, when I set out to do Dungeon Crusade I wanted just a ton of monsters in the game so it feels like you are always seeing something new. And trust me...I have many more I would like to place in the world of Avalon, but let's get this game done first! ;)
THE DUNGEON CRUSADE OFFICIAL WEBSITE:
And yes! This is coming together! Myself and Jesse are working out the details right now to get this live for everyone. Let me show you a early screenshot of what Jesse Hansen put together. Besides being a master at art, he builds web sites and designs them. This will of course change, but even in this early stage, I think it looks GREAT! KUDOS to Jesse! :)
A very early look at the Dungeon Crusade web site.
We have ALOT in store for the web site. And of course there will be a forum section for all of us to chat it up. There are a few very important things i want this site to have. A gallery section to show the art of the game, and a lore section where I can really cut lose and talk about the land of Avalon, the characters, the heroes, the monsters and just about everything Dungeon Crusade!
So we will keep you up to date when this will launch. However, I believe talking to Jesse, it will be up VERY soon.
SHAUN'S WEEKLY DUNGEON CRUSADE STREAM:
Remember on every Friday Shaun does his stream where he is creating the loot for Dungeon Crusade. I always try to catch that, and check it out while I'm working on the game. This past Friday he created some INCREDIBLE pieces of loot. A chaos weapon called "Reaper of Souls". An axe that just looked nuts! And a mythical weapon called "Outlaw Blade". A dagger that looked deadly as all get out.
I think if you go there now, you can see the video and the loot I'm speaking of.
IN CLOSING:
Well you see what I'm up to. Much of the revised content is complete for the new playthrough video. I've got some loose ends I have to tie up this week, some design docs and a few other things. I'm going to be working on more of the fine tuning of the stats for the heroes and monsters, and creating templates for the monster cards. Once those are fully in place, it's a matter of placing monster art on them and adding in the various values. Very quick work indeed.
Other than that all of the artists are working on various parts of the game. Hopefully I'll have more to show you guys next week.
As always, I'll try to be in the comments with you to chat a bit for the next few days. I hope everyone has a great evening tonight, and have a great week coming up! Wishing you guys the best, talk to you soon...Rodger :)
p.s. I wanted to sneak this in real quick. Here is the promo poster I put together of the Skeletal Archer above. A cool little origins story I wrote for this monster. :)
Hey all, Rodger here and hope everyone is doing great as always!
I was trying to get here last night, but we have been working out the details for the web site, and a few other things for the game.
And I'll do a catch all about the small white icons/skull icons. I'm in talks with an artist about creating 6 fresh new icons. I'm envisioning a set of 6 icons, in the form of a sword, bow, staff, dagger, scepter(mace) and a axe. A little chunky in size, black outline, and filled in with a solid color of that warfare type. These new icons will take the place of the skulls that reside on the monster cards now.
That way we still retain a clean, concise and uncluttered look, and just by looking at these you will know what warfare type this monster is versed in. I will most definitely be keeping you posted on these, and you guys will be the first to see them. There is alot of pro's on going with this method.
@CoolHandLoot @Ross Thompson Hey guys, hopefully you like the sound of that. :)
@Panagiotis Govotsos Hi there Panagiotis! Let me answer a few questions for you....
Q: This might be a silly question at this point, but what was wrong with having the warfare type icon behind the pair of numbers?
A: It was very muddy and unclear. Something I learned a long time ago, and any artist will tell you this, is when you take something that has some good detail to it, and shrink it down, it looks terrible. It's all smoshed together, cramped..basically YUCK!
The skulls on the card now are just a solid color, with white shadowed numbers and looks very clear. Sometimes less is more. ;)
Q: Did you try having the white icons REPLACE the slash between the number pair?
A: That was the first layout I tried, and worked with. Very cluttered, ugly did not work out at all. When I first heard what Joe said, it sounded absolutely perfect! But when it was in front of me, it didn't look to hot. But KUDOS to Joe for that suggestion! :)
And by reading above, I think these new icons that will be in the color and shape of the weapons of that warfare type is going to do the trick once and for all.
And by all means yes! I truly love you guys being part of the process, our discussions and showing you what I can on what's going on with Dungeon Crusade, and would have it no other way.
Q: So the first time you get an affliction of a particular type you always get a 1st degree affliction and the next time (if you haven't taken a potion) it always becomes a 2nd degree affliction?
A: You are 100% correct.
Q: There aren't some monsters that, on the first afflicting (is that a word?), could go straight to giving you a 2nd degree affliction because they are stronger or something?
A: No, there is nothing like that. However some (just a few) higher level champion monsters, (level 3 & 4) will be testing some resistances EACH round of combat. So say for the first round, a hero takes a 1st degree spiritual affliction, the following round he could take yet another spiritual affliction, which would be a 2nd degree of course. There is no 3rd degree affliction.
It would be well advised to have a few elixir potions on hand, and a few heroes going into higher level chambers. Remember, when entering the chambers of the dungeon, you have no idea on what monster resides inside! You will maybe have an idea of the level, but no clue on what monster lurks inside.
OK guys, back to work. I will be touching base with you about these new icons that will be replacing the skulls. If it comes out like I'm imagining, it's going to be be perfect.
Have a great day guys, talk to you soon...Rodger :)
Following up on chang's question on afflictions...
So the first time you get an affliction of a particular type you always get a 1st degree affliction and the next time (if you haven't taken a potion) it always becomes a 2nd degree affliction? There aren't some monsters that, on the first afflicting (is that a word?), could go straight to giving you a 2nd degree affliction because they are stronger or something?
I don't know if that would be too bad, too unbalanced maybe? I dunno.
@Rodger This might be a silly question at this point, but what was wrong with having the warfare type icon behind the pair of numbers? That was pretty distinctive. Did you go with all identically shaped but differently colored skulls for uniformity, consistency, balance? Or, be honest because they're bad a** :)
Did you try having the white icons REPLACE the slash between the number pair? If I understand Joe's description, I think that's what he was suggesting.
I don't know if it was intentional, but @CoolHandLoot might have a point. The new white warfare icons on the left side of the card do look like they are a part of a fancy scrollwork. Maybe it looks different on a full size card (the image seems like about quarter sized?) but on that image, the icons are so fine that if you didn't know they were supposed to be informative, you might think they were just decorative. Picture me scratching the side of my head, so hard to describe pictures in words...
BTW not complaining, trying to talk out thoughts vague as they are. Just very glad that you are willing to discuss the process and ideas with us. Even if we (at least I) are out in left field, it does make us feel a part of the process.
Looks good with the placement. The white icons appear kinda bland to me, realistic icons would be nice, but pure white should satisfy anyone with severe color-blindness.
Nice work Rodger! The new cards look great- the monster art is much more visible with good pop. The small icons on the far right of the fab page could probably be brought in a little- at first I thought it was a smudge or border art before I looked real close. And we do want to make sure to succeed in communication. Cheers
Hey guys, Rodger here. I wanted to share with you what I came up with for the small icons for the warfare types.
I tried a few different things at first...putting these small white icons between the numbers, putting them to the left of the numbers...it made that area of the card very YUCK! It really threw the balance of the card off.
But then I placed them to the far left, and I really liked it! So when you are playing, you look to the opposite side of the warfare icons and the small icons are right there lined up perfectly.
Better give you a visual of this. I created a promo poster tonight of the monster card design. Go here >>> https://www.facebook.com/DungeonCrusade/ and you will see the pic right at the top.
I made little white icons in the form of a sword, bow, staff, dagger, scepter/mace and a axe. As you know, each weapon goes with that certain warfare type.
RED = PHYSICAL WARFARE / Sword
BLUE = RANGE WARFARE / Bow
GREEN = ARCANE WARFARE / Staff
PURPLE = MYTHICAL WARFARE / Dagger
ORANGE = SPIRITUAL WARFARE / Scepter (mace)
BLACK = CHAOS WARFARE / Axe
While you are there, make sure to click the "like" button on the page. I'm going to be doing some cool giveaways for Dungeon Crusade merch. Posters I'm designing and T shirts.
OK guys, let me know what you think of how I did it. I think it really looks pretty good, and the card has a good balance to it still.
Have a great day guys, talk to you soon...Rodger :)
Hey guys, happy Tuesday to all! Rodger here and i wanted to stop in and say HI! and of course answer a few questions for you. And truly like you for all the nice comments towards everyone working on the game! Team effort for sure.
Right now as a matter of fact, I'm working on the small icons for the warfare types. Next update I would like to share it with you, and get your 2 cents.
So onto the comments!
@Juan Nice hearing from you again Juan! When we get this new playthrough video rolled out, I think you are going to like the combat and how it works, plus customizing your hero. So many options for the player to consider on what kind of build they would like to do.
@zbv500 @Vincent DiCello @QorDaq Thank you very much! :)
@Ross Thompson Hi there Ross! Yes, I'm working on these small icons right now. Shifting some stuff around, trying different layouts seeing what looks the best.
And here is the color code for the warfare types:
RED = PHYSICAL WARFARE
BLUE = RANGE WARFARE
GREEN = ARCANE WARFARE
PURPLE = MYTHICAL WARFARE
ORANGE = SPIRITUAL WARFARE
BLACK = CHAOS WARFARE
Hope this explains a bit better. :)
@chang \\[@.@]// Hey there Chang! TY for the thumbs up on the card layout! OK, let me explain about afflictions....
In that demo above, the knight hero had no afflictions what so ever. As we saw, he failed a physical resistance check from the Skeletal Archers special ability "Serrated Arrow".
He would then have to take a 1st degree physical affliction card, and put it in his player area. As you can see from the cards description, he will suffer 1 damage every upkeep phase.
Now on his turn, if he consumes an elixir potion, he would be healed of all afflictions.
Let's say he had no elixir potions on hand, and just dealt with this 1st degree physical affliction for a few turns. If he would take yet another physical affliction, (from a monster attack, an encounter event or from a trap) he would then have to take a 2nd degree physical affliction card. A 2nd degree physical affliction is called "Broken Bone." This would result in him not being able to roll the red D6 in physical warfare combat.
Any time a hero takes a 2nd degree affliction card in any of the 6 categories, that results in that hero losing the D6 to roll during combat. Each one of the 6 categories deals with a part of the heroes body. Body, vision, movement, mind, thought process and basic well being.
As I said, have a few elixir potions on hand Crusader Chang! ;)
Afflictions were just another thing that I wanted to give fellow gamer's in Dungeon Crusade, so they would have a truly unique, immersive dungeon crawl experience. I wanted to ride the line between "arcadey & simulationish" for lack of a better term. LOL, I hope that makes some sense! :)
OK, back to work on these small icons. Side note, I have been placing some of the other monsters on the new monster card design, and WOWSA! They really look incredible! Another big KUDOS to Cornerstone Creative Studios! Jesse Hansen, Joseph Arnold and Freddy Lopez, you guys knocked it out of the park so far with your art! Outstanding work! :)
I will try to get more monster cards ready for you guys to check out for the next update. Have a great day guys, talk to you soon...Rodger :)
yeap. LOVE the new cards, MUCH MUCH better.
+1 on the suggestion for color blinded
.. on a side topic. what I am missing? where in the card of the skeleton it said that it was a LEVEL 1 affliction? how do you determine that the hero got a level 1 vs a level 2? (sorry if missing something obvious and thanks for reply)
I agree it's looking better, but I can only tell the difference between the top 2 warfare types of the skeleton based on the difference (I perceive) of the shadowing. I'd be randomly guessing which each is. The symbol between the numbers is a good idea, or maybe a small letter indicating the type.
Personally, I like the helmet the way it is. It looks really cool and bad-ax.
Great job on the card design and layout, Rodger! Including the small warfare symbols like Joe mentioned would help everyone quickly ID the warfare type.
beside the Knights Helmet still looking to much "ironman-like" for my taste, the overall progress for DC is really great. Monster Cards looking great and i am looking forward checking out the Dungeon Crusade website. Keep up the good work Rodger:)
I've backed a few games, and I love Dungeon Crawlers, but this game takes the cake. It's perfect, and the best part is that you don't always have to be in the Dungeon and the external components outside are amazing. I love the communication that you have with us backers; I wish other Kickstarter projects would do the same. So far, the graphics and wording are clean; I'm not sure if I saw the turn when a fight happens, but I'm sure it's great. Thank you once again, and as always, please keep us updated with the latest and greatest.
Hey guys, Rodger here and it's nice to hear from you! :)
@Michael Reilly Hey there Michael! :) To be quite avow with you, it was the perfect place to put it. I shifted everything around in different places many, many, MANY times! :) It honestly takes awhile to come up with a great looking design, that looks pleasant to the eye. Whether it be monster cards, hero cards, special ability cards, etc.
I think this new monster card design looks really well balanced. And thank you for the kind words Michael. :)
@Joe Tynes Hi there Joe, nice to hear from you. I'm REALLY glad to brought that up about an aid for people with color blindness. A great suggestion about the symbols! I like that idea. I'm going to play around with some symbols, and see what I can do to implement them.
Maybe next update I'll have another monster card and show you what I came up with. Again, a really great suggestion Joe!
@Panagiotis Govotsos Nice hearing from you Panagiotis. I asked Jesse that question, as i have no idea how artists work there magic. Here is Jesse's reply....
"Standard production procedures when it comes to studio work. Like an assembly line in order to focus on peoples strengths. Some are adept at particular aspects of rendering images more so than others, Cornerstone Creative Studios focuses on the strengths of each person as well as their preferences."
There ya go! Actually that was pretty interesting. I would not known how to answer that. I have really gotten to know Jesse pretty well. Just a great, professional and talented individual for sure.
@Juan Hi Juan, nice to hear from you. :) And wow...I have to say, this was a really nice of you to say...
"Love the look, these are better than other games like Shadows of Brimstone."
LOL, that is all the artists right there Juan! They are the ones who get 100% of the credit. I may be laying some stuff out, but these guys steal the show.
And about the Hail of Arrows....he hasn't casted that special ability yet! LOL, that's all I can say! ;)
Thank you for the kind words Juan, and we are all working towards getting this game nailed down, finalized and to the printers. We'll get there. ;)
OK guys, time to hit the sack. I'll be back in here tomorrow to chat it up a bit with you. Have a great day, talk to you soon...Rodger :)
Love the look, these are better than other games like Shadows of Brimstone. The reading is simple; however, a level 3 skeleton with a hail of arrows should have several arrows launching from the bow. Either way, it looks amazing and one day closer to playing this phenomenal game, thank you.
Yes, the monster card has really improved. It's much clearer and easier to read. I think Joe's got a good suggestion for non-colorbased labeling. It might work well. I'm not sure how else to do it without cluttering up the card again.
Is it normal to have different people do each step of producing a picture? I just assumed that one artist would complete a picture, not just one stage (pencil, ink, color).
The monster card is great. I like the clean design. The monster art looks better without the distraction of a dungeon background. The skulls make a nice background for easily reading the numbers.
I do have one suggestion to aid those with color blindness, instead of just a line between the numbers, separate them with a small solid white symbol of the warfare type. For Ranged an arrow, Mythical a dagger, Physical a sword, Spirit a mace, Arcane a staff, and for Chaos an axe.
Everything looks like it is going well. Thanks for the update.
I agree that the Monster Card design has now been significantly improved – much better legibility. I like this overall design. Is there any reason why the gold star is not vertically centred on the silver title bar?
Groovus Games Unlimited Creator about 1 hour ago
Hey all, Rodger here and hope everyone is doing great as always!
I was trying to get here last night, but we have been working out the details for the web site, and a few other things for the game.
And I'll do a catch all about the small white icons/skull icons. I'm in talks with an artist about creating 6 fresh new icons. I'm envisioning a set of 6 icons, in the form of a sword, bow, staff, dagger, scepter(mace) and a axe. A little chunky in size, black outline, and filled in with a solid color of that warfare type. These new icons will take the place of the skulls that reside on the monster cards now.
That way we still retain a clean, concise and uncluttered look, and just by looking at these you will know what warfare type this monster is versed in. I will most definitely be keeping you posted on these, and you guys will be the first to see them. There is alot of pro's on going with this method.
@CoolHandLoot @Ross Thompson Hey guys, hopefully you like the sound of that. :)
@Panagiotis Govotsos Hi there Panagiotis! Let me answer a few questions for you....
Q: This might be a silly question at this point, but what was wrong with having the warfare type icon behind the pair of numbers?
A: It was very muddy and unclear. Something I learned a long time ago, and any artist will tell you this, is when you take something that has some good detail to it, and shrink it down, it looks terrible. It's all smoshed together, cramped..basically YUCK!
The skulls on the card now are just a solid color, with white shadowed numbers and looks very clear. Sometimes less is more. ;)
Q: Did you try having the white icons REPLACE the slash between the number pair?
A: That was the first layout I tried, and worked with. Very cluttered, ugly did not work out at all. When I first heard what Joe said, it sounded absolutely perfect! But when it was in front of me, it didn't look to hot. But KUDOS to Joe for that suggestion! :)
And by reading above, I think these new icons that will be in the color and shape of the weapons of that warfare type is going to do the trick once and for all.
And by all means yes! I truly love you guys being part of the process, our discussions and showing you what I can on what's going on with Dungeon Crusade, and would have it no other way.
Q: So the first time you get an affliction of a particular type you always get a 1st degree affliction and the next time (if you haven't taken a potion) it always becomes a 2nd degree affliction?
A: You are 100% correct.
Q: There aren't some monsters that, on the first afflicting (is that a word?), could go straight to giving you a 2nd degree affliction because they are stronger or something?
A: No, there is nothing like that. However some (just a few) higher level champion monsters, (level 3 & 4) will be testing some resistances EACH round of combat. So say for the first round, a hero takes a 1st degree spiritual affliction, the following round he could take yet another spiritual affliction, which would be a 2nd degree of course. There is no 3rd degree affliction.
It would be well advised to have a few elixir potions on hand, and a few heroes going into higher level chambers. Remember, when entering the chambers of the dungeon, you have no idea on what monster resides inside! You will maybe have an idea of the level, but no clue on what monster lurks inside.
OK guys, back to work. I will be touching base with you about these new icons that will be replacing the skulls. If it comes out like I'm imagining, it's going to be be perfect.
Have a great day guys, talk to you soon...Rodger :)
Panagiotis Govotsos about 18 hours ago
Following up on chang's question on afflictions...
So the first time you get an affliction of a particular type you always get a 1st degree affliction and the next time (if you haven't taken a potion) it always becomes a 2nd degree affliction? There aren't some monsters that, on the first afflicting (is that a word?), could go straight to giving you a 2nd degree affliction because they are stronger or something?
I don't know if that would be too bad, too unbalanced maybe? I dunno.
Panagiotis Govotsos about 18 hours ago
@Rodger This might be a silly question at this point, but what was wrong with having the warfare type icon behind the pair of numbers? That was pretty distinctive. Did you go with all identically shaped but differently colored skulls for uniformity, consistency, balance? Or, be honest because they're bad a** :)
Did you try having the white icons REPLACE the slash between the number pair? If I understand Joe's description, I think that's what he was suggesting.
I don't know if it was intentional, but @CoolHandLoot might have a point. The new white warfare icons on the left side of the card do look like they are a part of a fancy scrollwork. Maybe it looks different on a full size card (the image seems like about quarter sized?) but on that image, the icons are so fine that if you didn't know they were supposed to be informative, you might think they were just decorative. Picture me scratching the side of my head, so hard to describe pictures in words...
BTW not complaining, trying to talk out thoughts vague as they are. Just very glad that you are willing to discuss the process and ideas with us. Even if we (at least I) are out in left field, it does make us feel a part of the process.
Ross Thompson
Superbacker
about 20 hours ago
Looks good with the placement. The white icons appear kinda bland to me, realistic icons would be nice, but pure white should satisfy anyone with severe color-blindness.
CoolHandLoot 2 days ago
Nice work Rodger! The new cards look great- the monster art is much more visible with good pop. The small icons on the far right of the fab page could probably be brought in a little- at first I thought it was a smudge or border art before I looked real close. And we do want to make sure to succeed in communication. Cheers
Groovus Games Unlimited Creator 2 days ago
Hey guys, Rodger here. I wanted to share with you what I came up with for the small icons for the warfare types.
I tried a few different things at first...putting these small white icons between the numbers, putting them to the left of the numbers...it made that area of the card very YUCK! It really threw the balance of the card off.
But then I placed them to the far left, and I really liked it! So when you are playing, you look to the opposite side of the warfare icons and the small icons are right there lined up perfectly.
Better give you a visual of this. I created a promo poster tonight of the monster card design. Go here >>> https://www.facebook.com/DungeonCrusade/ and you will see the pic right at the top.
I made little white icons in the form of a sword, bow, staff, dagger, scepter/mace and a axe. As you know, each weapon goes with that certain warfare type.
RED = PHYSICAL WARFARE / Sword
BLUE = RANGE WARFARE / Bow
GREEN = ARCANE WARFARE / Staff
PURPLE = MYTHICAL WARFARE / Dagger
ORANGE = SPIRITUAL WARFARE / Scepter (mace)
BLACK = CHAOS WARFARE / Axe
While you are there, make sure to click the "like" button on the page. I'm going to be doing some cool giveaways for Dungeon Crusade merch. Posters I'm designing and T shirts.
OK guys, let me know what you think of how I did it. I think it really looks pretty good, and the card has a good balance to it still.
Have a great day guys, talk to you soon...Rodger :)
chang \\[@.@]// 2 days ago
ok, that`s what I thought and I imaging is going to be clear on the rules; it just wasn't clear that it was 1st > 2nd always by the update itself :)
thanks! and cant wait to see more monster cards
Groovus Games Unlimited Creator 2 days ago
Hey guys, happy Tuesday to all! Rodger here and i wanted to stop in and say HI! and of course answer a few questions for you. And truly like you for all the nice comments towards everyone working on the game! Team effort for sure.
Right now as a matter of fact, I'm working on the small icons for the warfare types. Next update I would like to share it with you, and get your 2 cents.
So onto the comments!
@Juan Nice hearing from you again Juan! When we get this new playthrough video rolled out, I think you are going to like the combat and how it works, plus customizing your hero. So many options for the player to consider on what kind of build they would like to do.
@zbv500 @Vincent DiCello @QorDaq Thank you very much! :)
@Ross Thompson Hi there Ross! Yes, I'm working on these small icons right now. Shifting some stuff around, trying different layouts seeing what looks the best.
And here is the color code for the warfare types:
RED = PHYSICAL WARFARE
BLUE = RANGE WARFARE
GREEN = ARCANE WARFARE
PURPLE = MYTHICAL WARFARE
ORANGE = SPIRITUAL WARFARE
BLACK = CHAOS WARFARE
Hope this explains a bit better. :)
@chang \\[@.@]// Hey there Chang! TY for the thumbs up on the card layout! OK, let me explain about afflictions....
In that demo above, the knight hero had no afflictions what so ever. As we saw, he failed a physical resistance check from the Skeletal Archers special ability "Serrated Arrow".
He would then have to take a 1st degree physical affliction card, and put it in his player area. As you can see from the cards description, he will suffer 1 damage every upkeep phase.
Now on his turn, if he consumes an elixir potion, he would be healed of all afflictions.
Let's say he had no elixir potions on hand, and just dealt with this 1st degree physical affliction for a few turns. If he would take yet another physical affliction, (from a monster attack, an encounter event or from a trap) he would then have to take a 2nd degree physical affliction card. A 2nd degree physical affliction is called "Broken Bone." This would result in him not being able to roll the red D6 in physical warfare combat.
Any time a hero takes a 2nd degree affliction card in any of the 6 categories, that results in that hero losing the D6 to roll during combat. Each one of the 6 categories deals with a part of the heroes body. Body, vision, movement, mind, thought process and basic well being.
As I said, have a few elixir potions on hand Crusader Chang! ;)
Afflictions were just another thing that I wanted to give fellow gamer's in Dungeon Crusade, so they would have a truly unique, immersive dungeon crawl experience. I wanted to ride the line between "arcadey & simulationish" for lack of a better term. LOL, I hope that makes some sense! :)
OK, back to work on these small icons. Side note, I have been placing some of the other monsters on the new monster card design, and WOWSA! They really look incredible! Another big KUDOS to Cornerstone Creative Studios! Jesse Hansen, Joseph Arnold and Freddy Lopez, you guys knocked it out of the park so far with your art! Outstanding work! :)
I will try to get more monster cards ready for you guys to check out for the next update. Have a great day guys, talk to you soon...Rodger :)
chang \\[@.@]// 2 days ago
yeap. LOVE the new cards, MUCH MUCH better.
+1 on the suggestion for color blinded
.. on a side topic. what I am missing? where in the card of the skeleton it said that it was a LEVEL 1 affliction? how do you determine that the hero got a level 1 vs a level 2? (sorry if missing something obvious and thanks for reply)
Ross Thompson
Superbacker
3 days ago
I agree it's looking better, but I can only tell the difference between the top 2 warfare types of the skeleton based on the difference (I perceive) of the shadowing. I'd be randomly guessing which each is. The symbol between the numbers is a good idea, or maybe a small letter indicating the type.
QorDaq 3 days ago
As always great update and wonderful interaction with the community. Thank you.
Continued Success Warriors!
Vincent DiCello
Superbacker
3 days ago
Personally, I like the helmet the way it is. It looks really cool and bad-ax.
Great job on the card design and layout, Rodger! Including the small warfare symbols like Joe mentioned would help everyone quickly ID the warfare type.
zbv500 3 days ago
beside the Knights Helmet still looking to much "ironman-like" for my taste, the overall progress for DC is really great. Monster Cards looking great and i am looking forward checking out the Dungeon Crusade website. Keep up the good work Rodger:)
Juan
Superbacker
3 days ago
Almost forgot, thanks for the update of the Hail of Arrows; it makes sense. : )
Juan
Superbacker
3 days ago
Hey Rodger,
I've backed a few games, and I love Dungeon Crawlers, but this game takes the cake. It's perfect, and the best part is that you don't always have to be in the Dungeon and the external components outside are amazing. I love the communication that you have with us backers; I wish other Kickstarter projects would do the same. So far, the graphics and wording are clean; I'm not sure if I saw the turn when a fight happens, but I'm sure it's great. Thank you once again, and as always, please keep us updated with the latest and greatest.
Groovus Games Unlimited Creator 4 days ago
Hey guys, Rodger here and it's nice to hear from you! :)
@Michael Reilly Hey there Michael! :) To be quite avow with you, it was the perfect place to put it. I shifted everything around in different places many, many, MANY times! :) It honestly takes awhile to come up with a great looking design, that looks pleasant to the eye. Whether it be monster cards, hero cards, special ability cards, etc.
I think this new monster card design looks really well balanced. And thank you for the kind words Michael. :)
@Joe Tynes Hi there Joe, nice to hear from you. I'm REALLY glad to brought that up about an aid for people with color blindness. A great suggestion about the symbols! I like that idea. I'm going to play around with some symbols, and see what I can do to implement them.
Maybe next update I'll have another monster card and show you what I came up with. Again, a really great suggestion Joe!
@Panagiotis Govotsos Nice hearing from you Panagiotis. I asked Jesse that question, as i have no idea how artists work there magic. Here is Jesse's reply....
"Standard production procedures when it comes to studio work. Like an assembly line in order to focus on peoples strengths. Some are adept at particular aspects of rendering images more so than others, Cornerstone Creative Studios focuses on the strengths of each person as well as their preferences."
There ya go! Actually that was pretty interesting. I would not known how to answer that. I have really gotten to know Jesse pretty well. Just a great, professional and talented individual for sure.
@Juan Hi Juan, nice to hear from you. :) And wow...I have to say, this was a really nice of you to say...
"Love the look, these are better than other games like Shadows of Brimstone."
LOL, that is all the artists right there Juan! They are the ones who get 100% of the credit. I may be laying some stuff out, but these guys steal the show.
And about the Hail of Arrows....he hasn't casted that special ability yet! LOL, that's all I can say! ;)
Thank you for the kind words Juan, and we are all working towards getting this game nailed down, finalized and to the printers. We'll get there. ;)
OK guys, time to hit the sack. I'll be back in here tomorrow to chat it up a bit with you. Have a great day, talk to you soon...Rodger :)
Juan
Superbacker
4 days ago
Love the look, these are better than other games like Shadows of Brimstone. The reading is simple; however, a level 3 skeleton with a hail of arrows should have several arrows launching from the bow. Either way, it looks amazing and one day closer to playing this phenomenal game, thank you.
Panagiotis Govotsos 4 days ago
Yes, the monster card has really improved. It's much clearer and easier to read. I think Joe's got a good suggestion for non-colorbased labeling. It might work well. I'm not sure how else to do it without cluttering up the card again.
Is it normal to have different people do each step of producing a picture? I just assumed that one artist would complete a picture, not just one stage (pencil, ink, color).
Joe Tynes 4 days ago
The monster card is great. I like the clean design. The monster art looks better without the distraction of a dungeon background. The skulls make a nice background for easily reading the numbers.
I do have one suggestion to aid those with color blindness, instead of just a line between the numbers, separate them with a small solid white symbol of the warfare type. For Ranged an arrow, Mythical a dagger, Physical a sword, Spirit a mace, Arcane a staff, and for Chaos an axe.
Everything looks like it is going well. Thanks for the update.
Michael Reilly
Superbacker
4 days ago
I agree that the Monster Card design has now been significantly improved – much better legibility. I like this overall design. Is there any reason why the gold star is not vertically centred on the silver title bar?